Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“It was odd. As a girl, Sophie would have shriveled with embarrassment at the way she was behaving. As an old woman, she did not mind what she did or said. She found that a great relief.”

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

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Years and years ago, I watched the Studio Ghibli production of Howl’s Moving Castle, and enjoyed it, as I enjoy most of their films. But I never read the book, and it wasn’t really on my radar, until I was scrolling endlessly through Libby looking for a new audio book. As luck would have it, I was in the mood for something light, and Howl’s Moving Castle definitely fit that bill. Though the book is named for the enigmatic Wizard Howl and his castle that […]

Old Magic, Old Story Style

Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories by Diana Wynne Jones

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One of the things I always find fascinating about reading short story collections by authors who’ve had a very long career is to see the growth and change of their style over time. Unexpected Magic by Diana Wynne Jones is no exception. The collection has stories published from throughout her career, from as early as the 1960s to the early 2000s. Not in any particular order, the stories range from speculative tales of authors so lost in their work it becomes real to cats telling their […]

Family Drama

The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones

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In my 2022 quest to read Diana Wynne Jones’ full body of work, I’m running down the Chrestomanci books first. After completing The Lives of Christopher Chant and Charmed Life last year, I’ve moved on to The Pinhoe Egg. Picking up about a year after Charmed Life ends, The Pinhoe Egg focuses on a huge family of Dwimmers, or nature-magical mages, who are trying their best to keep their magical abilities away from what they believe is the oppressive oversight of Chrestomanci. Things have gone fine for years, with them […]

Before Harry Potter, There was Diana Wynne Jones

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Vol. I Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Vol I The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones

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I was reminded of Diana Wynne Jones when reading Gaiman’s The View from the Cheap Seats. I had a vague recollection of knowing her name, and decided to go check out her work. It turns out, I was a huge Jones fan as a child and just didn’t know it. I read several of her books in elementary and middle school, and aside from my father reading Lord of the Rings to me, Jones’ work was one of my first real introductions to fantasy. My library had The […]

“I’m going up to my room now, where I may die.”

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1) by Diana Wynne Jones

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**30 Books in 30 Days** Book 17/30 Most of the way through this, I couldn’t figure out why I had only rated it four stars on my first read (which was quite a while ago, in high school I think?). I was all, This is delightful! I love this! I’ve only ever had fond memories of it. And then I came to the ending, and I was like, Oh yeah, this is why. And then I also remembered Diana Wynne Jones book endings always tend […]

Crone power

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

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My first exposure to Howl’s Moving Castle was the Studio Ghibli film version., which I found utterly charming.  So when the Kindle Daily Deal dangled a bargain before me, I pounced, and am pleased to say that the book is similarly delightful. Howl’s Moving Castle takes place in an unspecified European landscape ruled by a fairytale logic, where Sophie Hatter, as the eldest of three daughters, is resigned to nothing interesting ever happening to her.  It’s always the youngest of three (or seven) that has […]



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